Fall is an ideal season for churches to deepen their relationship with their communities. One of the best opportunities for outreach is the annual Trunk or Treat event—a tradition that has grown from its 1990s origins into a vibrant community engagement activity.
Originally conceived as a Halloween alternative, Trunk or Treats offers families a safe, fun-filled evening without the traditional trick-or-treating. What started as a simple idea—church members decorating their car trunks with candy and costumes—has evolved into a creative and inclusive event that attracts families from all walks of life.
Today, Trunk or Treat events are more than just a chance to distribute candy. They provide a unique opportunity for churches to open their doors to the broader community, offering a festive atmosphere filled with family-friendly fun and fall-themed activities. Whether you’re looking to connect with your church family or reach out to new faces, this is a chance to make a meaningful impact.
In this blog post, you’ll learn …
— How to plan ahead on your Trunk or Treat to avoid hidden land mines for your event.
— How to engage the community so you get more people involved.
— How to develop a safe Trunk or Treat
Planning Ahead
Like any other event you plan, starting the preparation process for your Trunk or Treat well ahead of time helps you ensure a better experience for everyone. If you’re planning an event near Halloween, you’ll want to get started by Labor Day. If you can do it even earlier, that only helps.
Pick a Date
For the most part, picking a date for Trunk or Treat is one of your easier decisions. You want to be as close to Halloween as possible. Of course, you may be cautious about setting a date specifically on Halloween, especially if you have safety concerns in your community or you simply want to avoid the date because of the holiday’s darker themes.
But if you’re trying to provide a Halloween alternative, it makes sense to schedule it on Halloween. You could also consider the previous or following weekend as a possibility as well.
Gather a team
Once you have a date, you need a team to help make this happen. You may want to hand-pick a few key positions, such as your team leader and publicity coordinator, but then share the opportunity more broadly through your worship services.
Make a plan
If this is your first year, start simple. Invite your congregants to bring in candy and get a few snacks. Maybe add a fall-themed game or two. You really don’t have to reinvent the wheel to make it a great experience.
If you’re a Trunk or Treat veteran, consider taking your plan up a notch. Add some new “stations” to the event. Consider some interactive games like pumpkin bowling or a “mummy” relay race (where kids race to wrap up a child in toilet paper).
Simple and inexpensive prizes can really add some incentives for the children as they play the games.
To really take the fun up a notch or two, consider hosting a contest for families to see who can develop and run the most creative activities for your Trunk or Treat.
During this planning stage, you’ll need to decide whether your church will include a light dinner (hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, etc.). Providing an easy dinner means one less thing parents need to think about when they show up at your Trunk or Treat.
Create a budget
Once you’ve created your plan, you’re ready to make a simple budget. Come up with a list of what you need to execute the plan. Then, mark what you’ll have people in the congregation bring in. Your church will need to make up the difference. Other than food and a few decorations that can’t be donated, you likely won’t have a ton of expenses.
Engaging the Community
Ideally, you want to get the word out way beyond just your local community. If you really focus on engaging your neighbors, your church’s Trunk or Treat has the potential to be one of your church’s best outreaches of the year.
Once you have a date established, share a few simple social media ads designed to get the date, time, and location in front of your neighbors. Social media ads make targeting your invitations to families based on geography, age, language, etc., easy, so it’s a great place to start.
If you have a good relationship with your church’s neighborhood schools, talk to them about how they can help you get the word out to their children. (In fact, you could partner with the school to create a Trunk or Treat hosted by them but supported by your church. You’ll want to get started on this long before Labor Day, but you could start laying the groundwork now for next year.)
You can’t rely solely on impersonal ads, though. Personal invitations are almost always the most effective. Provide your families with printed invitations they can hand out to friends. Encourage your church’s children to invite their friends to attend. Consider awarding small prizes to whoever brings the most friends to the event.
Don’t overlook the possibility of involving local businesses in the effort. Many small businesses would enjoy being able to connect with neighbors and maybe provide an activity for your plan. Depending upon the size of your event and the makeup of your neighborhood, you may also have a food truck or two that would be interested in setting up nearby.
Safety and Logistics
Any time you’re gathering children, it’s critically important you do whatever you need to do to protect them. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
All Volunteers Need to be Background-Checked
Anyone working with children must have taken a proper background check and participated in whatever training your church requires. Don’t make exceptions.
Enlist Some Security Volunteers
Have a few volunteers who are specifically focused on helping to keep an eye out for security concerns, whether it’s unsupervised children, adults who look out of place, etc. This is particularly important if you’re planning on hosting this event outside and if you’re encouraging the wearing of costumes. If you have some members with law enforcement/security experience, this would be a great fit for them.
Make Sure You Do a Run-Through of Your Property for Safety Concerns
Anytime you’re expecting a large contingency of children on your campus, you’ll want to make sure there are no safety disasters just waiting to happen. Do a run-through of wherever you’re going to host the event with a group of parents of small children. They’re always particularly aware of spots where kids could be in danger.
Making the Most of This Year’s Trunk or Treat
Engaging families with a Trunk or Treat activity is a great start to a relationship with them, but it’s certainly not an end. Consider the event an entry point into your church and have a few strategic ways to engage them afterward.
Have some invitations for your church’s next sermon series or small group study available for families to take as they leave. Encourage your church families to be friendly and invite people to return to the church later.
Also, consider some other ways your church may want to engage families this fall. We’ve prepared a special new guide, Creating Impactful Fall Retreats for Your Church, designed to help you create a powerful retreat for church and community members alike. Download the free guide today!
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